


Sure

by intermediatewriting



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 03:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5990847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intermediatewriting/pseuds/intermediatewriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The engagement ring had been staying too long inside Will's sock drawer. Nico starts to doubt everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sure

            The warm presence usually felt by his side was gone. The sun would light up the whole room, leaving Nico squinting, but it wasn’t enough to make Nico miss someone less. He was almost becoming an absent presence in the room, if not for a textbook here or a crumpled white button down shirt that was not Nico’s but were still tainted with memories of Nico wearing it during that one night. The other objects were accompanied with random memories, as well, but they remained a reminder.

 

            Nico sighed and padded through the cold tiles of the room. He rubbed on his eyes before pouring warm black coffee to a mug that he’s kept for years now. Will gave it to him one Christmas and he had to stop himself from cringing in front of the boy because of the smiling orange sun and the bright yellow background. He almost wanted to give it back or to recycle it but Will narrowed down his eyes before sighing.

           

            “I want you to keep it”, he said. “I want you to be reminded of its message.”

 

            Ironically, the mug says ‘You are my sunshine.’ Nico laughs bitterly and almost asks himself if Will still thought the same. Nico looks at the clock and realized he only had 15 minutes before his meetup with Jason. He was sure the other man would wait for hours until Nico would come so he sat down on the stool and put his chin on his hand. He looked around and thought that the couch was occupying too much space. There were books spread in so many places that some had become makeshift tables. Too many trinkets and small furniture from Nico’s travels were scattered. There was even a Matryoshka doll set that could’ve been placed in a better position but well, maybe it had to stay for a while behind the picture frames.

 

            Maybe soon they’d be cleared up, and that the Matryoshka doll would be easily seen. The books will stay scattered, perhaps they would not be picked up for a long time. Nico hoped that he would be able to see a change with the room’s set up, then shook his head and decided against making more expectations.

 

            He gulped the remaining half of his coffee before going to the bathroom to throw on a light cotton shirt and wear a pair of jeans that had been hanging from a chair for three days already. He took a peek at the mirror but averted his eyes as soon as he saw his five o’ clock shadow. He’ll shave that later, when his mind is hopefully clearer.

 

            The distance to the café was too long for Will. If he were here, he’d be already hailing a cab but Nico had always liked walking. There was something about the rough winds hitting his face or the blurry faces that he won’t be able to remember. These people were in a rush to get somewhere while Nico against the busy people and for a second, he thought that maybe he had been inconveniencing them.

 

            He entered the café and listened as the bell announced his presence. His eyes wandered around, looking for someone with hair that almost reminds him of the sun, shiny and bright. He saw him in a corner, where the only source of light was coming from the window behind the couch he was sitting in. Jason raised his left hand once he saw Nico. He starts walking towards Jason as the vacancy in his chest seemingly spreads with each step he takes.

 

            He sat on a comfortable black couch that was parallel to Jason’s. Another cup of black coffee had been waiting for him, this time in a warm black mug that Nico scoops up instantly. He raised his eyes from the coffee to the man in front of him.

 

            “Sorry, I’m late.” He said.

            “It’s fine. You know I’d wait for you.” The blond replied, his head tilted to the side and his eyes were trained on Nico.

 

            Nico took a deep breath then quickly looked to his right where people were scattered around the café. Not one table was unoccupied and not one person was alone. There were two men in suits talking with rapid hand gestures. A group of young students huddled around a table where books and notebooks covered the whole table. Then there was Nico and Jason, who looked casual and had no other item displayed on their table but Jason’s coffee. He knew what they looked like but he really wished that he was with a blond whose gold-like hair was long enough to cover his ears and touch the back of his neck. But those kind of events were only reserved now for special occasions, such as work celebrations or holidays.

 

            He looked again at the man in front of him, who was patiently looking back at him. He sighed.

 

            “I’m not sure of him anymore.” Nico admitted. Jason only raised an eyebrow. When Nico didn’t reply for a long time, Jason sat forward.

 

            “You’re going to have to tell me why, Nico.”

 

            Nico closed his eyes. Most days, he wished he knew why he felt as if the relationship was now mechanical, or worse: a chore. But he had to lay down everything he thought had caused it. Nico trusted Jason, and he had to admit everything to someone he really knew if he wanted to come up with a decision. Nico sipped some more coffee then put the mug down. His hands suddenly felt cold.

 

            He averted his eyes before telling Jason everything. He stated that he’d just be waking up next to a pile of neatly stacked pillows. He’d be going to the kitchen and he’d just get a warm cup of coffee in lieu of the long warm hugs he usually received. They had stopped looking the list of their date ideas, which they used to check every week.

 

            He desperately wished that it had just been simply caused by the habits that had been broken down by time, but it felt as if there was something more significantly absent than Will’s presence. When he would walk alone around town, he’d make sure to look straight ahead so he won’t see the fingers that were interlocked. The texts he’d receive, wherein Will would ask him what he ate for lunch, were slowly irritating him to the point that he thought that Will still doesn’t trust him enough. He doesn’t even wrap his arms around Will as he goes to sleep. Instead, he tucks his hand under the pillows as he drifts off without Will on his side and wakes up without Will on his side. He wonders if the other boy even goes home and the only answer he gets would be the dirty clothes that would be scattered in the hamper.

 

            “I’m starting to realize why the ring had just been sitting there.”

 

            The ring had been covered under Will’s socks. Nico had been nervous the first time he saw it, unsure if he'd be ready for marriage or if he's even fit for marriage. He immediately called Jason and the other was able to calm him down and talk him through everything, as he always had. Soon enough, Nico eased himself to the idea of marriage and would tease Will with his dreams for their wedding and their future.

 

            But the memories of his discovery about the ring and his previous anxiety about it were slowly being faded by time. He could now only remember the location of the ring and his frantic hand gestures as he panicked while Jason was calming him down. The rest of the details were nowhere to be found, just like Will’s proposal that he had been waiting for for three years.

           

            Jason stood up and said only one sentence before he walked Nico home.

 

            “It seems to me that the biggest problem here is that you’re saying your problems to the wrong person.”

 

           

 

 

 

            ‘If I can wait for twelve hours, I can wait for fifteen minutes’, he thought. His hands were shaking now and he had yet to convince himself it’s from the excessive caffeine he took this day just so he could wait up for Will to come home.

 

            He toyed with the small black box on top of the table. He flicked it then it fell off the table. He immediately rushed to the other side to pick it up when the sound of the door creaking announced the arrival of the person he was waiting all day for.

 

            A tall guy with a mop of sandy blonde hair came to view and Nico almost wanted to reach out and smooth away the fringe that was covering much of the man’s face. Will shrugged off his coat and hung it over the back of a chair before standing in front of Nico. His eyes were set on the black box Nico was holding now, however.

 

            “You found it, huh.”

 

            “Yeah, I have.”

 

            Will looked up at him and the ghost of a smile was present on his lips. He bent down to place a quick peck on the smaller boy’s lips before he wrapped his warm hand around Nico’s and intertwined their fingers. He tugged Nico to the couch and sat facing Nico while Nico faced the television parallel to their sofa.

 

            “You look apprehensive.” Will stated, as his long fingers traced random shapes on Nico’s lower arm.

 

            Nico shook his head before turning his head to look at the other boy. “I-I want to um ask you a question.”

 

            Will stopped tracing then reached out to hold Nico’s hand to kiss it. He then placed his chin on top of his and Nico’s intertwined hands.

 

            “Ask me anything.”

 

            Nico took a deep breath and looked to his right before whispering, “Are you still sure?”

 

            He bit his lip then looked at the ground while the boy in front of him knitted his eyebrows and asked, “Why are you asking that?”

 

            “It’s just…” Nico trailed off. He took a deep breath and kept his gaze downcast. “I feel like you’re always absent and that you don’t seem as active in this relationship anymore. I feel like sometimes you’re better off marrying your job than me.”

 

            Will straightened up and took the box from Nico’s hand. He opened it and took out the ring. He looked at the silver band that was between his thumb and index finger.

 

            “I bought this ring four years ago, after we became official.” Nico whipped his head up to look at the other boy, whose eyes moved from the ring to Nico’s.

 

            “Maybe this Will wasn’t at home as much that Will is or maybe that Will went to more dates than this Will”, he continued as he stared at Nico’s eyes.

 

            “But trust me when I say that the Will you are looking at right now is as sure of you, of us as the Will who bought this ring a day after you said yes.”

 

            Nico’s eyes felt prickly with tears that were threatening to spill out. Will held Nico’s hand as the other held the ring.

 

            “I wanted to work extra hard because I wanted to be able to provide us a bigger home.” Nico smiled as his eyes averted to the Matryoshka doll then to the books that were scattered on the floor.

 

            “When we get married, we’d move in there. But first, we’d have our honeymoon in your hometown. That’s what you want, right?” Will asked him. Nico nodded and then brushed Will’s bangs away from his face before trailing his hand down Will’s cheek.

 

            “I had no money and I….I just wanted to make sure I had enough to make your dreams come true.” Will told him as his sky blue eyes were starting to become shiny with tears.

 

            Nico looked at Will’s skin whose prominent tan had now transformed into a milky white from being inside the hospital too much. The skin under his eyes were grey that blended outwards into his cheeks that were dotted with freckles. His lips had flakes but Nico leaned in anyway and joined Will’s dry lips with his. After feeling the warmth of Will’s lip with his, he rested his forehead on Will’s and stared at him.

 

            “Will, you’re the only dream I ever needed to come true.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys loved this! Any comment or constructive criticism would be helpful.


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